


Oh Ms Believer

by AnxiousBich



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Bruce needs working on, Everyone Is Poly Because Avengers, F/M, Feels, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Multi, Polyamory, mentions of almost-school bombing, mentions of almost-scuicide, mentions of brain-washing, not explicit but proceed with caution
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-16
Updated: 2014-09-16
Packaged: 2018-02-17 14:21:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2312693
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnxiousBich/pseuds/AnxiousBich
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Avengers have a day off and Tony thinks they need some bonding time. Bonding times turns into revelations and confessions that no one was expecting.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Oh Ms Believer

**Author's Note:**

> This was completely self-serving, just something I wanted to get down. So it is possible the characters are slightly OOC. I wrote this for myself but I hope whoever reads this enjoys it.  
> Title from the song "Oh Ms Believer" by Twenty One Pilots  
> Unbeta'd so all mistakes are my own.

           The Avengers had a day off. The Avengers almost never had a day off. At least, not all at the same time. Someone was always running off to a lab, to a mission, a person, or just running. Except now. Now The six of them stood in various positions in the kitchen, an awkward air weighing heavy on the group. They had never really had the chance to just... be together, that didn't involve fighting hordes of villains or the aftermath of fighting said hordes when everyone was too exhausted to do much else but stare blankly into space.

            However, now. Right now, there was no danger. No mission they needed to rush off to or person to see. There was always science to do but Tony had convinced Bruce that this was a "rare opportunity." Now they had no idea what to do with themselves. Natasha stood, leaning against the massive steel fridge, Clint perched on the counter beside her. Bruce stood at the end of the counter, anxiously wiping his glasses down with the hem of his button up, unwilling to look the red head in the eyes. Thor and Steve sat on the bar stools behind the counter, glancing between the group, curious as to what was going to happen next. Tony stood opposite Bruce, surprisingly silent. That, of course, was short lived.

            "Well you're all just a bag of fun," he commented, Clint snorted in reply. The awkward air cracked a fraction. At that moment, Bruce would give a huff of a laugh, amused at Tony's antics, but he stayed silent and straight faced. Tony sighed, "alright, fuck this," he said throwing his hands in the air, "everyone get the fudge in the living room." The team looked around at one another, not moving an inch before looking at Tony. "Living room! Come on people!" he clapped his hands, corraling the group into the living room, something he would probably never get away with again.

           Thor sat on one end of the massive couch, with Steve plopping down beside him. Natasha slipped in beside him, folding her sweat pants clad legs under herself, relaxing easily into the warmth of the arm thrown over her shoulders and Clint's body settling in beside her. The last to sit was Bruce, sitting on the opposite end of the couch, leaving a massive gap between himself and the rest of the group. Tony sighed and flopped into the space, laying down to fill in the gap, laying his head on Bruce's lap and his feet in Clint's lap.

           Tony grinned up at the startled Bruce, "hey sweet cheeks." Bruce finally gave his small breathe of a laugh, an amused smile on his face, shoulders relaxing slightly. Tony's grin quickly turned into a look of annoyance and concentration as he tried to battle Clint's hands. Finally Clint caught a hold of one of Tony's ankles and dug his fingers in just so to make the billionaire yelp in pain and tug his feet out of his lap. Clint laughed loudly, leaning his face into Natasha's shoulder as he did. Tony grumbled and turned on his side and squirmed his feet under Clint's thighs. The archer didn't fight him this time.

           "JARVIS, Back to the Future on the big screen," he ordered the AI.

           "Of course, sir," came the accented voice.

           In seconds, the massive HD TV flipped on, the opening of "Back to The Future" beginning to play. The shades of the window became tightly closed, blocking all sunlight from the room. The lights dimmed, just enough to see but allowing it to be intimate and not too distracting. Below him, Tony could still feel Bruce's thigh muscles tense and tight. He reached over and grabbed Bruce's hand, making the scientist jerk his head in Tony's direction. Without preamble, Tony set the other man's long fingers into his own perfectly jelled hair. He never let anyone touch his hair, but desperate times and all that.

            Bruce seemed frozen in shock for a few seconds, before experimentally running his fingers through the surprisingly soft hair. As he became more confident in his strokes, Tony could feel Bruce begin to relax and he knew it was a win. After that, the room became much more light. The entire group cracking jokes, even Bruce and Natasha. Tony had thought Natasha was born without a sense of humor, Clint and Steve looked pleasantly not surprised. Every time Bruce cracked a joke without meaning to, he'd tense, expecting the group to become aware of his presence and turn on him. Instead they laughed, except for maybe Steve or Thor if they didn't understand the joke. Seeing them laugh, especially Natasha, set Bruce at ease until he just stayed a relaxed, happy puddle of scientist.

           At some point through the first third of the trilogy, Bruce went still and silent. Tony tilted his head slightly and caught sight of Bruce; head back, hair ruffled, and glasses askew. Tony looked at the rest of the team and spotted Natasha and Clint staring openly at them. Tony only just noticed the tanned masculine hand on his calf, rubbing gentle, unconscious strokes up and down the muscle. Tony had wanted the team to get closer, to bond even, if only to make working together less stressful. In the beginning he had fought tooth and nail to be left alone, and maybe even now he'd say he hated being considered an 'Avenger' if he were asked, but he had accepted his position in this rag tag team of 'heroes'.

           Now though, right in this moment, everything felt right. And it had nothing to do with being a 'team' or 'comrades'. Something had shifted and he hadn't even noticed, but it was comfortable. Natural. He hoped to what ever deity, real or not, that he didn't fuck it all up.

           About half way through part two, Bruce jerked awake. Head shooting up, neck cracking painfully as he did so. "Ah," he groaned, grabbing the back of his neck. He felt small, cold fingers on his neck and was surprised to find none other than the deadly Black Widow, looking more hesitant and unsure than hes ever seen her.

           "Is it... okay?" she asked, showing her fingers, waiting for confirmation-which she received in the form of a nod- before placing her fingers on the Doctor's neck. She began slowly working fingers into the tight, stiff muscles. Bruce let out a moan as the kinks were worked out by skilled fingers. A wolf whistle was heard from the other side of the couch where Tony had decided to sit, lounging against Thor's broad chest. Natasha rolled her eyes, but an amused glint in her eyes. She had to agree with Tony. Bruce's entire body seemed to melt forward until he was basically folded in half, arms fold on his knees and his forehead resting on them.

           Natasha went from massaging his neck to working down his back, feeling the multitude of knots in his shoulders and back. Bruce kept making these small pleasant groans and moans and had officially drawn the attention of the room away from the movie. Natasha ran one of her fingers up the back of his neck and up into Bruce's hair, massaging his scalp gently, the other hand just scratching his back now. She smiled at the goo that had now replaced the normally stiff man. She slowly removed her hands and leaned in, resting her chin on Bruce's shoulder.

           "Dr. Ba-, Bruce...," she whispered into his ear, only loud enough for him to hear her, "I don't think badly of you... you are a good man." Bruce's shoulders became once again tense under her. She didn't want to ruin his relaxed mood, but she needed him to know. Bruce sat up, a dark expression on his face. He sunk back against the back of the couch staring blankly at the screen. Natasha bit her lip, eyes calculating, deciding if it had been a mistake to speak up or not. She glanced back at Tony who was still openly staring while the rest of the room was pointedly not looking at them. She reached out with an air of uncertainty before landing her hand flat against his arm, stroking the spot softly.

           Bruce lifted his arm without looking at her, she slipped easily into the offered spot, tucking her feet under herself once again. She leaned her head against his chest, looking back at Micheal J Fox attempting to save his future son. Bruce rested his cheek against the top of her head, cradling her body but not too tight, knowing she wouldn't want to feel restrained. Nearly ten minutes passed before Bruce spoke, everyone's attention returned to the movie.

           "I'm not," he whispered against her hair, arm tightening only a fraction, voice cracking slightly. Natasha didn't speak, she only reached up and placed her hand on top of his larger, tanner one, running her chilly fingers over his unnaturally hot ones.

          Thirty minutes later, pounds and pounds of burgers, fries, onion rings, sodas, and milkshakes were delivered, hot and cold respectively. The delivery boys stared at the superhumans in awe, Thor and Steve carrying the food easily while Tony tossed the boys a hefty tip before promptly pressing the elevator button, giving a fake grin as the doors slid closed. The six of them gathered as much food as they thought they could handle and returned to the couch, Bruce and Natasha returning to their spots on the end of the couch while the rest purposely moved closer to the two while they ate.

           Steve sat, enraptured by Marty McFly's adventure, eating his own burger absently. Tony chuckled at the matching expression he found on Thor's face as he easily devoured five cheeseburgers. Clint ate his own burger, picking at Natasha's onion rings while Clint picked at her fries. Bruce smiled gently at their bickering when Clint took one too many onion rings. He easily offered his own, she looked slightly surprised but took an offered onion ring with a small grateful smile. He gave a small smile of his own, head tilting down in a way that reminded her of a little boy with a crush. Her smile widened. Clint watched the two with a small smirk, he leaned into her ear just slowly enough to be unnoticed.

           "I told you," he mumbled.

           "That you did," she admitted, taking a slurp of milkshake.

            The rest of their time was spent uncomfortably full but content. The six were smushed much closer on the couch now that Bruce had relaxed. Bruce was comfortably curled around Natasha with Steve beside her and Clint spread out on their laps. Tony's feet were tucked underneath Steve's thighs with his head once again on Thor's chest. He hadn't meant for it to go this way. Just some bonding, but shit, this was definitely turning into something else.

           Tony looked over the 4 team mates to his right, eyes lingering on Bruce's face, seeing the ever present stress lines on his face smooth out in a way that only happened when he was asleep and sometimes not even then. He then looked up at Thor, a gentle smile on the Thunder God's face, he could feel the muscles beneath and around him relaxed and pliant. He rested his cheek against the solid chest and felt the muscled arm around him shift and pull him closer. He stared sightlessly at the TV. He could see where this was headed, he was sure most of them could see where this was headed and it was terrifying and beautiful and awful.

           He curled his fingers into the soft gray t-shirt that clung to Thor's large torso. He had heard of people like this. In a committed relationships to multiple people, but he was sure that he'd never heard of a case like theirs. Then again, that should just be automatically tacked on to everything they do. He could see the destruction this could cause, the pain and anguish, but he could also see the good. The beauty and joy it could cause, and fuck they deserved that. They deserved this. He only half watched Marty and the Doc run around the Wild west, mostly lost in thought. In the possibilities and the future.

           He didn't even noticed the credits starting to roll until he felt his pillow begin to shift and stretch. Steve stood first, moving Clint's legs gently off his lap as he did. He lifted his arms above his head, stretching with a groan as his joints popped and cracked, he relaxed his body with a sigh.

           "How exactly did you trick us into a five hour movie, Tony?" he asked the Stark, who was stretching out over the space Steve had just vacated, cracking and popping, before relaxing against Thor's side. He grinned contentedly up at Steve, causing Steve to smile back softly. Tony's genuinely happy smiles always seem to disarm him, he'd become so use to his mischievous grins that always ended with Steve's feelings and pride being hurt,but lately even those mischievous grins were followed by friendly banter rather than hurtful barbs more often than not.

           "Well hopefully whatever it was can be used to get you all to do this next part," Tony replied, hopping up from his spot and walking over to the admittedly impressive bar in the corner by the windows. Thor happily followed him to the bar, Natasha and Clint followed with much more neutral expressions. Bruce stiffened in his seat while Steve hung back, never having been particularly interested in alcohol even before it had no effect on him.

           Steve looked to Bruce, noticing the stiffened posture from earlier in the afternoon returning. He walked over to the scientist and looked down at him, brows furrowed in concern.

           "Bruce?" he asked, worry lacing his tone. Bruce looked up at the blonde, face purposely neutral. Bruce stood, a forced smile on his face.

           "Just, the other guy and alcohol don't really mix," Bruce explained, waving the Captain off, smile tight. A lie. He had no idea how alcohol affected the Hulk and, no he wouldn't like to test those affects, but that was not the reason for his discomfort. "I'm still pretty beat and I could use a shower," Steve opened his mouth to protest, certain that the doctor wouldn't return if he retreated to his room, "Its okay Steve, go with the others." Bruce gave one final forced smile and walked to his room, unnoticed by everyone but Steve and Natasha.

           Bruce walked into his over sized room, closing the door behind him. Even after living in the tower for months, there was still nothing on the walls. It would look as if no one were living there if it weren't for the closet full of brand new clothes that Bruce rarely wore and the duffel bag in the corner of the room. He looked over the enormous bed. A bed big enough to hold ten people, or one Hulk, in case something happened while he was sleeping. He sighed, running his fingers over the silk sheets on the bed, mind wandering to days walking among Market places in India, running his fingers over silks that were rare in those parts of the country. He went to his duffel bag and grabbed a pair of beat up old sweatpants before walking into the bathroom.

           He undressed and put the settings as high as they could go before standing under the spray. He sighed, the water would have felt boiling to most but his unusually hot body temperature caused the water to feel on just the line of warm and hot. He tilted his head back, salt and pepper curls flattening against his head. He thought over the afternoon/evening he'd just been involved in. It was such a simple thing. A lazy day he'd never allowed himself. Even before the accident. He remembered the warmth of Tony's head on his lap, running his fingers through Tony's hair. Natasha pressed up against his side, massaging his back and allowing the closeness he never thought she would accept from anyone, especially him. Clint's head in his lap, being allowed to rest his large hand on Clint's shoulder. Steve's hand on the back of his neck from where his arm was around Natasha's shoulder, squeezing and kneading the tense muscle without thought. Thor's massive hand resting on his lower back in an intimate fashion, as Thor grabbed some food from the counter, smiling down at him warmly.

           Bruce didn't understand how it had become this. This... mess. These people, he cared about them and it ached. I made his head swirl with happiness and sadness and guilt. So much guilt. He turned the water off and got out of the shower, picking the towel up to dry himself off. He pulled the lose, comfortable sweatpants on and stepped out of the bathroom, towel still in his hair.

           He looked up and jumped in surprise to find a billionaire, a super solider, a mythological god, and two assassins sitting on his bed. He slowly slid the towel off his head, unconcerned with his own half naked appearance. Although he did notice a tick to Natasha's brow, similar grins on Tony and Clint's face, and a soft spread of color on Steve's down turned face. Well this was certainly an ego boost. He pulled his glasses out of his pocket and slipped them on his face and threw the damp towel over his shoulder. Tony gave his second wolf whistle of the night.

           "I agree, Man of Metal," Thor piped up, looking over the doctor's surprisingly defined chest appreciatively. Bruce wasn't usually one to be embarrassed over his body, he'd accepted long ago he was no super solider or spy or even just a billionaire playboy and he wasn't ashamed of it, but having five sets of eyes firmly planted on him in anyway but fear or disgust was shockingly unnerving. He felt heat spread over his cheeks and crossed his arms over his chest.

           "What are you all doing in here?" he asked, looking over the group, most of whom had various bottles of alcohol in their hands. He watched Natasha tag a swig of straight vodka like it was water. Tony was swirling around some sort of fine bourbon around in a tumbler from his spot in the middle of Bruce's bed, propped against the headboard while the rest of the team was perched on the edge of the bed.

           Tony grinned, taking a swig of his drink, "we just didn't want you having all the fun Brucie." Clint crawled up the bed and propped himself up next to Tony. He took Tony's glass and took a sip, grimacing slightly. Tony didn't even react, just took the tumbler back when it was offered.

           "Come on Steve, my man," Tony spoke up, patting the space beside him, "don't be so tense." Steve looked over at Bruce, looking uncertain, still worried that they were intruding. Bruce huffed, a small smile playing on his face. He rolled his eyes slightly but gives the smallest of nods. Steve crawls over to the spot beside Tony, yelping in surprise when Tony gave a firm smack to his back side. Steve glared at Tony, smacking him lightly in the shoulder. Tony laughed and rubbed his shoulder as Steve got comfortable beside him.

           Bruce sighed, giving his hair one more firm wipe down with the towel before tossing it over a nearby desk chair. Natasha stood while Thor spread out horizontally by his team mates' feet, fitting easily in the middle of the massive bed. Natasha walked over to Bruce, setting the bottle down by the bed in one fluid motion. She stood in front of Bruce and took his larger hands in her own, tugging gently, walking backwards towards the bed. She crawled onto the bed, grabbing the bottle once again, and laid down on Thor's other side, laying her head down on the god's solid chest.

           Bruce stared at the group, most of them on their way to being buzzed, looking soft and warm in wash warn t-shirts, sweatpants, and pajama pants. He felt a tug of longing, of wanting a place in that pile of beautiful people. The group looked at Bruce, waiting for him, and like a strike of lightning, he realized he already does. He felt his chest seize up but he kept his face neutral, not wanting to give away just how much this meant to him just yet. He walked to the edge of the bed and crawled into the spot beside Natasha, placing his head down on Thor's abs. He felt the thunder god reach down with his right hand and curl it into Bruce's damp curls.

           Bruce closed his eyes, just enjoyed the the warmth and the sound of breathing filling the silence. He listened to Tony snark and crack jokes with Clint, Thor laughing boisterously at their antics, jostling Bruce and Natasha as he did. Rather than being annoyed, Natasha and Bruce shared an amused look. It all seemed so natural, to share these looks like they understood one another, when only that morning Bruce could barely look her in the eye.

           The air was light, the lights were low, and then Steve started to talk about his past. He had his head tilted back against the headboard, staring blankly up at the ceiling, in another moment. Another time. "Bucky was amazing... all the other kids usually left me by myself, which I didn't blame them for, what fun was it trying to play with someone who could barely do anything without blowing a gasket?" Steve reminisced, "But Bucky... he didn't care. He just kind of showed up one day and we were inseparable... He never made me feel weak or worthless... I don't think I'd be the person I am without Bucky..." there was a crack to Steve's voice that the group pretended not to notice. Steve wiped at the stray tears on his face, "He didn't deserve that..." he whispered, "he didn't deserve that."

           Natasha closed her eyes against Steve's pain, she knew the most about what Steve was talking about. She had seen and fought Bucky, watched Steve's heart break. She opened them when she felt Thor's chest vibrate as he spoke. "My brother... he was not always as you have seen him...," he started, longing and sadness clear in his voice, "he was always very mischievous in his way, but he was never cruel... not always kind but never cruel, in truth he was often the target of Father's scolding for being unwilling to take part in the annual hunt." Steve gently rubbed his toes against Thor's shoulder in a comforting gesture. "There were so many chances to save him...," he took a gulp of Jack Daniels, expertly avoiding choking even though he was lying flat on his back.

           There was a heavy silence, all of them thinking the same thing. 'We don't blame you.' Natasha ran her fingers over the large hand of the Norse god resting on her stomach. She gently pressed her thumbs into the muscles there. There is a long silence before anyone speaks up again and Natasha is surprised when she hears Clint's voice next.

           "I was in the circus, you know?" Clint said, voice carefully neutral, cradling a martini in his hands, "My foster father, he was the main attraction and he was... he was amazing... him and my trainer. They taught me everything there was about shooting and fighting... I loved them," Clint's voice wavered only slightly. "They were the only family I had left and they left me for dead... for some cash...," he finished, face carefully blank. He tossed the rest of the martini back, dropping the glass on the bed next to him.

           Tony took a deep gulp straight from the elegant glass bottle that had been storing the expensive bourbon. He hissed through his teeth as it burned his throat but let the familiar warmth wash through him and give him courage. "I'm not a real Stark...," he admitted in the silence, Steve's head jerked around in shock. Tony gave a bitter smile, "Yeah, turns out my old lady was sterile... so they decided to get themselves a baby, because that was the thing to do... mom was so recluse they didn't even find it strange that she suddenly had a 2 month old baby...," he mumbled, taking another swig, snorting. "They actually picked me out of a line up and I still end up with parents who treat me like a mistake...," Tony's eyes went dark. Clint silently rested his cheek on Tony's shoulder, Tony leaned his own cheek on top of Clint's head, eyes glazed over.

           The group thought that would be the end of that. Natasha and Bruce were the most closed off about their past and nothing had gotten them to speak up about their it. Until now.

           "When I was a child, a man snatched me and a few other orphans up," Natasha started, voice just as neutral and unfeeling as Clint's had been, "and sold us to a strange man. They took us and trained us, brainwashed us, made us weapons and slaves." The red head went silent, lost in a dark memory. Bruce slid his hand over and took her hand in his, squeezing reassuringly. The sudden contact seemed to knock her out of her past, "I wanted to be a dancer," she breathed into the darkness, taking a big drink from her bottle of Vodka. Bruce could feel her hand trembling in his grip and he closed his eyes, the weight of their trust consuming him.

           Bruce knew it was his turn, they were waiting for the scientist to give himself over to them, as they had done for him and each other, but he knew they would respect if his choice was to stay silent. Natasha's trembling had stopped and she was squeezing his hand in reassurance. She was the only one who knew of his past, nearly every detail. Clint technically had access to the information but from what he could tell, it hadn't been part of Clint's job to know Bruce's past. Tony, he knew had his secret file among the many on his computer, but it seemed the billionaire had stuck to the purely academic/Hulk related information. No one cares about anything before his college years and that's how he liked it.

           Bruce took deep soothing breathes through his nose before releasing them through his mouth, getting his heart rate under control. He finally spoke. "My father... was an alcoholic," he started, he could immediately feel the guilt from Thor and Tony, "and he was a monster... he thought... he thought that I had inherited some gene from his father, called it the 'monster gene'," Bruce snorted bitterly at that. "I don't even remember a time where he wasn't trying to beat it out of me... and mom... she was beautiful and so smart and so afraid... and one day she was finally going to get us out of there, getting away from him but he caught us," Natasha was squeezing his hand tightly, giving him something to ground himself. His vision was tinged green but he wasn't changing, even lost in these dark memories and feeling distressed, the Hulk somehow knew Bruce was safe.

           "Then she was just... gone...," he whispered, voice cracking slightly. He cleared his throat before continuing, "I was such a coward... I let him intimidate me into lying on the stand and he almost got away with it... until he started-" he spoke through gritted teeth, "he boasted about it, about how he got away with killing his pathetic wife and got his monster child to lie about it... sent him to a psych hospital." Bruce was breathing shallowly, eyes closed tightly. Natasha turned on her side and wrapped her arms around the scientist's body, resting her head on his shoulder.

           Once he got his breathe under control, he spoke again, "They sent me to live with my aunt and her family... they were good people and my cousin was a good friend... but I was bullied mercilessly. Things were... better... not great but better than they were... and then some criminal out for revenge decided to run my aunt down and I-" Bruce's breathe hitched mid sentence. He never told anyone this, had never said it out loud to anyone but himself. He closed his eyes and for just a moment, he convinced himself that this wasn't his life. That he was just telling a fable. "I made a bomb out of our kitchen appliances and tried to blow up my high school... I chickened out at the last second and the janitor found me curled up next to the bomb in the basement...," his chest was heaving as if he had just gone running, a stray tear slid down his face. He crossed his arms over his chest, fear ripping through him.

           Fear that he would be hated, the part he had in their lives ripped away just as quickly as it had been given. He continued on with the rest of the story, needing to at least show the rest of himself before he is forced out. "And what do they do? Do they throw me in jail and throw away the key? No. The military offers me a job... tell me I have a talent...," Bruce squeezed his eyes tighter, "Suddenly I have a job at the military and free ride at a nearby college." Bruce went silent for a few seconds, opening his eyes and staring at the wall, eyes unseeing, "My father was right... I was always a monster...," he whispered, voice breaking, tears spilling more freely.

           The silence weighed a ton, but it felt like a death sentence to Bruce. He felt the bed shift and in that moment he was sure he would either be left alone or kicked out. Instead he felt someone crawl to his side and a hand resting on his forehead, "Bruce," Tony's voice said softly. Bruce let out a shuttering gasp and opened his eyes, vision blurry with tears. "You're not a monster, Bruce...," Tony said, voice full of sincerity that was so rare that it cut Bruce deep.

           Bruce sat up, jerking away from Tony's hand and Natasha's clinging form. He rolled out of the bed before more hands could grab him. He stood at the end of the bed, breathing heavily, "How can you still say that!?" he stared at his feet as he spoke, the shame he always carried with him rising ever higher. "I was going to kill KIDS! Innocent kids who were just starting their lives because I had a bad day!" Bruce gripped his hair, distressed and green around the edges but unchanging, a broken laugh escaped him, "And they gave me a fucking job for it...," he whispered.

           He jerked in surprise when he felt a hand slide between his shoulder blades, up to his shoulder. He turned to the person who was touching him, eyes wide and wild to find Steve standing beside him. Bruce felt his breathe hitch and he clenched his jaw, closing his eyes against... whatever was coming. A punch, a scream, just the disappointment and disgust he was sure to find there. He felt himself pulled into two strong arms and he jumped in shock, eyes opening wide. He stared at Steve's strong neck, trying to wrap his head around what was happening. Bruce knew he didn't deserve this, didn't deserve any of this, but he was selfish. So he raised his shaking hands and wrapped his arms tightly around the super soldier, clutching him close and buried his face into the blonde's neck. It had been years since Bruce had a good cry and even longer than that since he'd cried in front of another human being let alone a group.

           Steve placed a hand on Bruce's graying curls, stroking the hair at the base of his skull comfortingly. "I don't think you're a monster, Bruce, none of us do...," he whispered against the shell of the scientist's ear, "if you were, you wouldn't be here right now and neither would those kids... but you have a good heart, I know that much." By now Bruce was shaking and openly sobbing against Steve's shoulder. His entire world had been absolutely rocked and turned upside down, how could they still want him after all that?

           "Bruce, I made weapons that were used on innocent people," Tony spoke up, staring into his empty tumbler, "Families and children, blown to bits by missils with my name literally printed on the side." Tony snatched the bottle of Vodka from Natasha and drank down two deep gulps. Natasha took it back from him and took a gulp of her own.

           "I did things... I can't even tell you," Natasha spoke up, "not just because they're classified... but they were gruesome, Bruce... things you couldn't even imagine." Natasha took another deep gulp, sitting beside Tony on the edge of the bed.

           Thor stayed where he was, staring up at the ceiling, "I... have also done many a cruel thing...," he admitted, "many homes and families have been destroyed by my hand."

           Clint and Steve were the only ones who didn't speak up, Clint was simply staring sightlessly at his hands while Steve whispered soothing words in Bruce's ear. Clint clenched and unclenched his hands, "I'm deaf," he blurted out. Everyone but Natasha and Bruce looked shocked by this new piece of information. "Yeah...," he gave a weak smirk, "happened in the car crash that killed my parents and older brother... its not totally gone, using a hearing aid helps a lot but... its kind of like this constant reminder." Clint shook his head, lost in thought.

           "I could have made you some awesome aids if you'd told me earlier," Tony mumbled, Clint snorted, spirits lifted a fraction by Tony's childishness. Bruce's shaking has stopped and Steve is simply holding him, scratching his fingers through the drying curls carefully.

           "Come on, Bruce," Steve whispered against his ear, "Come lay with us." Steve very slowly extracted himself from the other man, taking his hand and guiding him to the bed. Bruce simply followed him, looking eerily similar to a lost child. Natasha and Tony reached for the man as he drew close to them, they took a hold of the arm closest to them and tugged him forward, showing their acceptance of his presence. Thor sat up and tugged Bruce towards him when the scientist crawled onto the bed, it was a bit awkward arranging the pliant man in his lap. Bruce sat limp in Thor's arms, resting his head on the large man's shoulder and staring at the blonde's tanned arm with glazed, red rimmed eyes.

           Clint patted the seat beside him, giving Thor a small smile. Thor grinned at the archer, squirming back until his back hit the headboard. Clint leaned against the larger man's shoulder and curled his fingers around Bruce's limp ones. Tony dropped the bottle beside the bed and crawled over to Thor and Bruce, moving between the Norse God's legs to lay his hand on Bruce's lap. Natasha moved to the spot between Clint's legs, leaning back against the archer's chest and resting Bruce's feet in her lap. Steve crawled onto the bed, taking up the space on Thor's other side.

           "Ugh," Tony mumbled, putting his hand over his eyes to keep the world from spinning so fact, "we're so over dramatic sometimes." Clint laughed openly, shoulders shaking while he gripped his stomach. For a few seconds Clint was the only one laughing but soon enough Tony was following suit and then Thor and Natasha and Steve. Even Bruce gave a small exhausted huff of his own.

           "Coming from you, we must be pretty bad," Natasha spoke up, digging her thumb into Bruce's ankle and the heel of his foot. Steve's fingers had found their way back into Bruce's curls, simply playing with the locks of hair. Bruce felt an undercurrent of guilt for being the center of attention after all those confessions, but that wasn't anything new. So he just took a deep breathe and enjoyed.

           "This day turned out really weird," Clint commented, letting his head flop back against the headboard, running his hands up and down Natasha's sides without much thought.

           "I've had weirder," Steve piped up.

           "Same," came Tony's voice.

           A laugh began ringing through the room and for a moment no one was sure where it was coming from until they saw the form in Thor's arms shaking. Bruce had a hand over his mouth, trying to keep the laughter in but it only seemed to get stronger until he had to grip his stomach and shove his face into Thor's collar bone. "I'm sorry," he gasped between laughter, knowing it was probably inappropriate, and maybe even down right crazy to laugh after all that. Their lives were just ridiculous. The room filled with laughter and just like that, they felt weightless, if only for now.

           Tomorrow their troubles and their past and their guilt will probably return to drag them down, but for now, they felt new. Unblemished and perfectly imperfect and just... together.

           The rest of the night was spent light and full of laughter, each Avenger dropping off where they lay.

           And if Pepper walked in the next morning only to find Tony rumpled but wide awake, looking at the people sleeping around him like they were the missing thing he'd been searching for all his life, well that was between them.


End file.
